The One Where Rachel Wants a Proposal
by Friendsfan-addict06
Summary: Ross and Rachel have been a couple for almost two years now and Rachel is wondering why Ross hasn't proposed to her yet. This is a fic for all those lobster shippers and is unrelated to any of my previous 'Friends' fics.
1. Chapter 1

Emma is already nearly three years old and Ross and Rachel have been together for almost two years. Which, has Rachel wondering why Ross hasn't proposed to her yet.

We find Rachel, Monica, Phoebe and Joey at _Central Perk_ discussing the possibilities of why Ross hasn't proposed to Rachel yet.

"Well Rach, remember how long it took Chandler to finally propose to me?" Reminded Monica.

"Yeah, but Mon that's Chandler." Rachel pointed out.

"What do you mean 'that's Chandler'?"

"What I mean is, it's Chandler, he is afraid of commitment."

"Probably still is." Phoebe added.

"Well Ross marries everyone! And Chandler is not!" Argued Monica.

Chandler enters the coffee shop, pushing the twins in a stroller.

"Hey Chandler are you afraid of commitment?" Phoebe asked.

"Uh, no. If anything I am more afraid of losing Monica than keeping her." Chandler smiled as he sat down and put his arm around Monica, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Awe thanks sweetie. I love you too," said Monica.

"Cute, but let's talk about Rachel's problem," stated Phoebe.

"Cool, what are we talking about?" Chandler wondered.

"How Ross hasn't proposed to Rachel yet."

"But he marries everyone!" Chandler blurted out.

"I know!" Exclaimed Monica.

"Ugh! Seriously you guys what am I going to do?"

"You could admit to him that you guys were on a break." Chandler smirked.

Rachel glared at him.

"Well y'know, maybe he's still hung up on it."

Rachel continued to glare at him and Chandler's eyes became wide as if he just saw a ghost.

"What I meant was..." Chandler paused. "Was that I am going to get a cup of coffee! Does anybody else want one?" Chandler asked as he quickly stood up. "Coffee? Coffee?" Chandler continued to walk around the coffee shop and went up to a random couple sitting down at a nearby table. "Coffee? No? Okay!" Chandler quickly stepped in line and waited for his turn to order.

Ross enters _Central Perk _with Emma.

"Hey you guys we are back from the park," said Ross.

"Hey Honey." Greeted Rachel, giving him a quick kiss.

"Hi Mommy." Emma said, waving her hand.

"Awe, hi Emma darling." Rachel replied as she took Emma from Ross and sat Emma on her lap.

"So what are you guys talking about?" Asked Ross.

"Words, words, words." Joey replied.

"Yeah, thanks for filling me in Joe."

"Joey's trying out for the role of Hamlet." Phoebe commented.

"Oh! Well did you guys know that Shakespeare actually named Hamlet after this ninth century prince named, Anleth." Added Ross.

Everybody just nodded their heads.

"And nobody cares."

"Well actually Ross, the casting director for the play was saying how prior knowledge of the play's background information is recommended. So thanks."

"Oh, no problem Joe."

"Hey Ross, would you like some coffee?" Chandler asked, handing Ross a cup of coffee.

"Sure man, thanks. Oh Rachel actually there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes Ross? What uh what is it."

Ross got up and dropped something. "Hold on." Ross got on one knee and started to pick something up.

"Oh my god! Yes! Yes, I will!"

Ross got back up after picking up a sticky note. "Wow you seem excited to call your mom back."

"What?"

"Yeah I was just going to ask you if you had your mother's new phone number."

"Oh, yes.. yes I will definitely call her back. I have a lot to tell her. Thanks for jotting it down for me." Rachel said as she snatched the sticky note from Ross' hand. "Anyways, Emma is going to be late for her play date and I should probably get back to my mom." Rachel picked up Emma and started to gather her things together.

"Oh okay, see yeah later Rach." Ross replied, puckering his lips to give Rachel a kiss goodbye, but Rachel just walked past him. "I love you honey!" Ross called out as Rachel walked out of the coffee shop. "Is she mad at me?"

Joey thumped Ross on the back of the head with his script.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"She thought you were going to propose to her just then, you imbecile!" Chandler blurted out.

"What? Propose?"

"Yeah, y'know the kind of thing you usually do after the third date." Chandler smirked.

"Yeah Ross, why haven't you?" Phoebe asked.

"Well trust me it's not like I haven't thought about it or anything. It's just.. Rachel is everything I've ever wanted since the ninth grade and now that I have her and Emma, I just don't want to ruin things."

"Ruin things? You guys have technically been together since 1996!"

"I know Pheebs.. I know.."

"Really Ross cause' it doesn't seem that you do!" Phoebe snapped.

Ross looked down at the floor and then at his watch. "Ugh, I'll talk to you guys later. I have to go set up for my seminar for the aspiring paleontologist at NYU."

Ross exited _Central Perk_.

Joey got up and also got his things together. "Yeah you guys I think I'm also going to get going to my audition."

"Alright bye Joey," said Phoebe.

"Bye Joey!" Monica exclaimed.

"Yeah see ya later man!" Chandler called out.

"Yeah, anyways Pheebs, Chandler and I should get the twins out of here too, they look exhausted," said Monica.

"Alright bye guys."

"Bye." Said Monica and Chandler.

After saying their farewells the gang parted their separate ways and took off.


	2. Joey's Audition

It's five in the evening and Joey is awaiting to audition for the lead role of Hamlet. He was very anxious to see if his many years of experience in the acting field would finally pay off and that he would be able to land such a big role. He wanted to prove to everybody that he wan't just a "soap" actor and hoped that this role would help prove just that.

"Joseph Tribbiani you're up next." Warned the Casting Manager.

Joey was so nervous walking through the doorway into the room where the casting directors were seated. He could feel his legs shaking as he stood in the center of the room, waiting for them to finish their conversations with each other.

"Hello, Joey Tribbiani. Right?" Asked one of the male casting directors.

"Yes sir, I'm Joey Tribbiani. I believe you have seen me from the _Days of Our Lives_. I'm sort of a big deal there." Joey boasted.

"Oh really? No, I haven't heard of it. Anyways can you read your lines please?"

"Oh.. yeah, sure. Where should I start?"

"Act III, Scene I, would be a nice place to start. At, 'To be or not to be', please." Said the Casting Director.

Joey cleared his throat. "To be or not to be? That is the question. Whether tis'.. tis'." Joey started to chuckle.

"Hold on! Stop! Stop! What's up Joe? Why are you laughing?" Wondered the Casting Director.

"Oh sorry it's just 'Tis'?' That's not a word. Like seriously what language does this Shakespeare guy think he's writing in anyways-"

"English." The Casting Director stated, cutting off Joey's statement. Before Joey could make even more a of a fool out of himself. "You know what Joe, I think I've hear enough."

"Really?"

"Yeah, We'll call you, alright?" Said the Casting Director, as he escorted Joey outside.

"Oh, okay." Suddenly Joey realized what the Casting Director was really saying, and stopped the door before the director could close it on him. "Wait hold on!"

The Casting Director sighed. "Yes?"

"Look Mr.."

"Mr. Ronnie"

"Look Mr. Ronnie, I know what you mean. You say you're going to call, but I know you never will. It's like the morning after when I tell women that I'll call them. Now look I think I did a good job out there and I bet you that none of the other guys auditioning even know the play's background. Y'know they don't understand the play's history and what it's really about. Now don't you think that the guy playing the main character should know about the play and what it's really about? I mean any director could get a random actor to play the role of Hamlet, but what message would you be sending to your audience? Not a really good one I'll tell you that."

"Yeah I see what you mean Joe. So you know about the play's background, yes?" Mr. Ronnie asked.

"Yes sir, that I do."

"Alright Joe, well tell me a little fact about Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'."

"Alright, well did you know that Shakespeare actually based Hamlet off of this prince in the ninth century named Anal..." Joey was trying to remember how to pronounce the Prince's name. "Anal-eth."

Suddenly, Mr. Ronnie had this hurt look on his face, as if he was offended by something Joey had said. Mr. Ronnie took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright Joe, don't call us, we'll call you."

"No! Wait! Wait! Was it something I said?" Joey wondered, but it was too late. Mr. Ronnie had already shut the door on him, and Joey knew he would never here from him again. Joey sighed and leaned his back against the door. "Dammit Ross!"


	3. Rachel's Idea

Meanwhile, Rachel brought Emma over to Monica and Chandler's house for a play date with the twins.

"Monica I just don't know what to do anymore." Rachel sighed and dropped her face in her hands.

Monica wasn't totally sure how to console her friend, and felt like if anything she should be the one to know what's up with Ross, with him being her brother and all. So she just sat there and nodded her head and touched Rachel's arm, hoping it would help soothe her best friend.

Suddenly Rachel's head shot up out of her hands. "I got it!" Rachel exclaimed.

"What?" Monica asked.

"Well, remember how you thought Chandler wasn't going to propose to you, so you decided to propose to him?"

"Yeah?"

"Well that's it! That's what I'm going to do! I'm going to 'pull a Monica'."

Chandler overheard the girls' conversations as he walked into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. "Wait. So, pulling a Monica is a good thing now?" Chandler interrupted.

"It was always a good thing!" Monica yelled.

"It was?" Chandler wondered.

"It is when it's your wife!" Monica snapped.

Chandler bit his lip and decided that he shouldn't get into more trouble. "I love you honey!" Chandler smiled and gave Monica a quick kiss on the forehead. "Uh what was that Jack you need help opening your _Play-Doh_?" Chandler blurted out, walking towards his son in the living room.

"No Daddy." Jack answered back, opening a can of _Play-Doh_.

Chandler face turned red from embarrassment as he looked back at Monica and Rachel, who were just staring at him. "Well, I'm coming over there anyways son!" Chandler exclaimed as he sat down next to Jack.

"Okay." Monica looked back at Rachel and they continued on with their conversation. "So, when are you planning on doing it?" Monica wondered.

"Tonight." Rachel replied, as she took a sip out of her glass of water.

"Oh okay. Wait. Tonight?" Monica exclaimed.

"Yeah, why not? It's the perfect time. Me and him are going out tonight to that fancy seafood restaurant, and Emma is here you and Chandler. Not to mention, it's a beautiful night out, so my timing is practically flawless."


	4. Ross' Solution

We find Ross chatting with Phoebe, the one who helped him finally gather the nerves to tell Rachel that he still loved her at the airport, many years ago. He knew he could count on Phoebe, and knew that what she was telling him was true, and that he should go and propose to Rachel.

"You know what Phoebe, I think I'm going to propose!" Ross revealed.

"Ooh, yay!" Phoebe exclaimed.

Suddenly, Ross felt something thump him on the back of the head. "Ow!" He looked back to see who thumped him, and saw that it was Joey. "What was that for Joe? Didn't you hear me? I said I was going to propose!" Ross yelled.

"Huh? What? No, that was for messing with me earlier!" Joey yelled back.

"What?"

"You gave me the wrong information!"

"What?"

"Anal-eth!"

"It's Anleth Joe." Ross corrected.

"Awe crap!"

"Okay. Anyways, thanks again Pheebs." Said Ross as he gave Phoebe a friendly kiss on the cheek.

"Whoa Ross! Watch yourself there, before we're married." Phoebe joked, making Ross respond by glaring at her and shaking his head.

"Okay, well bye you guys." Ross said as he grabbed his coat and got ready to leave _Central Perk_.

"Bye Ross!" Phoebe and Joey called out, watching their friend exit the coffee house.


End file.
